Doesn't it smell? I've heard that you have to buy special worms! Yeah, but you've gotta do it in the right order of layers! These are all things I have heard from people as I have given presentations about the importance and ease of composting. All of them are myths.

The truth is, one of the greatest things you can do as a gardener and Earth-conserver is to compost. Luckily, composting is way easier than most people know. So read on for the easiest method to compost and notice that it doesn't cost you a penny!

When starting a compost pile, the first thing to do is stop thinking of it as a pile. Think of it as a slowly baking earthy delight that needs turning sometimes.

Next, abandon the idea that you need to artificially add heat, either by doing something chemical or making your compost space be in the hot sun. Actually, composts do best in the shade and I will tell you why in three paragraphs!

Now that your vision of your compost is coming around, start making your earthy delight by throwing every plant cutting you produce into... well.. a pile! That's right, all of your grass clippings and leaves that you don't mulch can go right into that compost. Also, if you simply cut the top off of a plastic mik jug, being sure to keep the handle intact, you can use that to gather veggie cuttings and leftovers from inside the house. I store my little 'compy-jug' under my kitchen sink. Then, at the end of the day, take your jug of cuttings and toss it onto your growing compost.

So now you are taking good care of your veggie and outdoors clippings and you are getting a large pile. That's right, it is still a pile. A pile in the shade. Now you must make it a very wet pile in the shade. So get your hose on it regularly, or even adjust your sprinklers so that they keep that compost wet at all times.

This is what will happen when you get and keep the compost soaking: some of that plant matter is going to start seeping into the soil, with lots of water, and this will attract earthworms like mad. That's right, you don't need to add worms. All you need to do is keep your compost wet and the nightcrawlers will come flocking! These wonderful critters are going to eat your plant matter and push it out their south ends as lovely, rich dirt. And this is why you keep your compost in the shade: Moisture is key and the sun will dry your compost out fast.

Now the final thing is that you are thinking of your compost pile as an earthy delight that needs occasional turning. So every few weeks, take a pitchfork or a shovel and turn that stuff over, so that the newer cuttings and leavings on top will get under and into where the worms will do their business with them.

If done right, your compost is going to produce incredible natural fertilizer and planting soil. What is more, if you keep it rolling with water and mixing, your compost might even work year-round. Here in Utah, my compost steams during the colder parts of winter. And come spring, I have the richest dirt I have ever seen.

And as for the smell? What smell? You don't add animal products to it, and thus, the only smell is the rich aroma of plant-life. I have never had a complaint from my neighbors, and neither will you.

Learn more about this author, Jared Garrett.
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